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Resembling a larger, whiter, thinner, but not-as-sexy iPhone, the Kindle 2 got its high-profile launch on Monday by Amazon, the Seattle-based online retailer.

Analysts, media and gadget hounds filled New York's Morgan Library to hear Chief Executive Jeff Bezos touting the slimmer, faster new version of the e-reader that at $359 is still hardly a steal.

The press conference even featured an appearance from horror author Stephen King, whose novella "Ur" -- about a college instructor who orders a Kindle (no joke) to frightening consequences -- is only available on the Kindle.

But despite the advance hoopla -- read Reuters' preview of the Kindle launch here -- the blogosphere was surprisingly low-key about Monday's unveiling -- perhaps given leaked photos of the supposed device that could be seen on the Internet beginning last fall.

"Wow, even Amazon is jumping on the iPhone-killer bandwagon," said one blog, http://www.boygeniusreport.com, adding that the new Kindle is 25 percent thinner than the iPhone. Gizmodo, calling its new design a success, wrote: "It looks like Amazon got a few clues from Apple and Braun's design guidelines." The www.Techcrunch.com blog summed it up even more succinctly: "It's much less ugly."

Bloggers praised its thinness, more storage, better battery life, better display and faster page turning, but some still griped at its price tag and design, with one blogger saying the new Kindle is "still not pretty."

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Amazon’s newest Kindle is out — We’ve got reporters on the scene, and we’ll be back with more details shortly. In the meantime, here’s a link to the device on Amazon.com and part of today’s press release: